Detroit Lake State Recreation Area

If you’re camping during the summer, this is the WORST campsite we have ever encountered. There is no shade or breeze, and directly next to the main road to Sisters/Bend with significant road noise. We booked two nights and ended up just leaving because of the unreasonable noise and heat.

We enjoyed our recent stay at Detroit Lake. The camp spots in the H Loop are well spaced and we enjoyed our site. Bathrooms are cleaned daily and the staff was friendly.

It’s exhausting to be camping and then have militaristic camp hosts who have nothing better to do than enforce horrible rules that are not necessary such as a car visiting and not over night. Being in an accessible camp site and not being able to have an electric cord running to my tent. No one should be going down that ramp. Other things as well.

We've driven by this park SO many times driving from the Willamette Valley to Central Oregon.  Being right next to the highway we've never really considered it as a "get-away" place.  However, we found a spot to camp (lake-side no less) in late April.  Beautiful weather and the busiest weekend that time of year, as there was a fishing tournament happening.  The sites were full but it never felt crowded.  The lake was low, but it gave us a lot of space to roam.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.  We even booked a couple of extra nights.  Moved our site to do so, but the campground emptied out the last two nights and it was great!  We were also happy to support the local business after the 2020 fires.

This campground is great. I love the scenery and the fact that there's a little bit of space between the campsites. It's a nice campground to walk around and has easy access to the lake. Because of the fire there isn't much else to do in the area, but there's not much to do about that.

While I was there fires were allowed and there was wood for sale at the front of the campground. Clean and quiet. Like I said, lovely all around.

If you like cold showers, the. You will love this campground!  Disappointing. Other than that, park is maintained and clean.

The view of the mountain over the lake is gorgeous and lots of trail access to get to the waterfront.

Several of the sites have great views of the lake, when filled with water. Can have some road noise. Beautiful facilities and areas to explore.

Not my favorite place to camp and I have camped almost every single weekend so far. The lady ranger with grey hair at the front destroyed this vacation. Not being able to have three cars was annoying and the sites are very small. The noise from the highway is like living in a big city.

Very pretty and clean. Overall good feel

Beautiful place right next to the lake! Wasn’t a fan of how open the sites are and the noise from the highway. We were tent camping however so your mileage may vary with a camper/trailer set up.

A lot of sites are right next to the highway, and a lot of sites are close to the water, (when the level is higher). Very close to Portland though

The lake is perfect for young kids and the our campsite was overlooking the lake. It was pretty quiet despite having many campers near us!

We stayed here for 3 nights Mid June.  We have a trailer so were happy to get a site with full hook ups.  I think we got lucky with a cancellation because the  campsite was booked solid but one full hook up site close to lake was available about 2 weeks before our trip.  You could hear the highway a bit but was minor.  I think most spots here are pretty great!  All shaded and decent amount of room.  Lake is a 5 minute walk from anywhere.

Campground very clean and Hosts were great.    Wood and ice available on site.  Small store on site as well but we never went in - think it is mostly souvenir stuff for sale.

Our site was closest to river with a giant picnic area in front of spot.  I believe its for the public but since in front of campsites no one ever used them but us.   Great for the dogs to run and play and easy morning potty access.  They even provide dog poop bags!   

Lake was a joy to SUP on - Can get a little choppy with motor boats but fun to SUP to island and jump off midway for a dip!  We even went out on full moon SUP cruise.  Amazing.

The area was decimated by fire in 2020.  Campground untouched.  We did drive in to the town of Detroit to stock up on a few things and it was hit pretty hard.  Good to bring some business back to the folks that live here and are working hard to rebuild.

We stayed at Detroit Lake in the summer of 2020 when we were desperate for things to do that were even open.

Our campsite was right on the lake and near one of the boat docks.  The campground is in a beautiful forest and the breeze off the lake made the hot summer temperatures bearable.

We rode our bikes through the various camp loops and played a little at the playground as well.

I believe this campground may have been affected by the wildfires that swept through the state at the end of last summer.  I do not know how much damage may have occurred.

The Detroit Lake campsite is really nice because it is right on the water, with an incredible view of Mt. Jefferson on a clear day. It is worth noting that the water level here fluctuates quite a bit, and if you visit in late summer or early fall, the lake level is usually so low that it is not really as scenic, or as good to swim in. There are great facilities at the campsite that are very clean. They sell firewood there as well.

This campground is best suited for boaters and fishermen.  You can pull your boat up to the shore, close to the campsites.  They sell firewood and ice.  Restrooms not too clean.  No privacy.  Don’t camp near the highway or it’s pretty noisy at night.

Had a wonderful time tent camping here with our 4 month old baby. Great place to cool off on hot summer days. Love the trail that goes around the lake!

**Might have been affected by fires in September 2020**

Almost a five star if it wasn’t for the awful ROAD NOISE. You could hear the road noise from every site there, so much so in some that it drowned out conversation. Some of the camp sites were really in need maintenance via broken pad sites and encroaching trees.

Great campground with a lot of campsites. Some really beautiful sites next to the lake. Easy access to the lake from pretty much all of the campground. Great boat launch. The lake was warm and had a nice shallow edge for the kids. Would definitely come back if we could get closer to the lake away from the road noise.

Nice family campground with all of the amenities. Lake is great for boating and swimming.

This campground is sprawling with lots of amenities. It's not my favorite lake (I prefer quiet lakes to motor-boat lakes), but it's closer to the I5 Corridor and Portland than many other lake-campgrounds and at a lower elevation when the mountain lakes are still too chilly. There's a town nearby and options to rent boats, so this can be a fun destination for boating fans. 

Some of the sites are quite large with a great view of the lake. 

In the summer, the water gets low in the reservoir, so it often has a long, muddy, stumpy bank which isn't quit as appealing as other lakes.

Its actually quite a nice campground if you can get some of the spaces right on the Lake.

But you are going to have to book well in advance s this is a very busy place all Summer.

If you dont get a space on the lake you have to camp right beside 22 and this is a very busy roa especially for big semi trucks, so if your in a tent dont expect a peaceful nights sleep ( i bring ear plugs).

This is the kind of place were folks come to party, so if your into that its cool.

Typically busy all spring through fall, but grew up going annually and has always been a nice place to spend a weekend or week in the summer. Only issue we ran into as years passed was having to book so far in advanced to be able to have a chance of getting any site that wasn’t just the last of what’s available. Otherwise for the type of camping it provides it is always well kept and the facilities they offer are great.

It was fun but definitely a party atmosphere. We were looking for something quieter. Very pretty Lake and area.

Doesn’t get better than Detroit Lake! Campground is in a beautiful spot with easy access to the lake for boating, fishing, swimming, etc. Only complaint is that this campground gets very busy and fills up fast!

No reservations first come first serve. There's a beautiful lake a close store/ gas station.

Im sure it is a very lovely campground. Unfortunately I didn't explore much due to massive amounts of smoke from surrounding fires. We went in August of 2017. There is tons of wildlife, we camped where the river meets the mouth of the lake. There was blackberry picking everywhere. The bathrooms were clean and the campsites provided plenty of room.

I've been coming to Detroit Lake every Labor Day weekend my whole life and enjoy it every time. On a holiday weekend it can become busy and between the wind picking up in the afternoon and all the boats, the lake can turn into a choppy ocean. But it's still a beautiful area with a great mix of nature and amnenities. Close to Salem and Portland too. It's actually quite peaceful on a non holiday. Especially if you manage a waterfront site. There are a lot of spots that back up to the highway and you can definitely hear cars, but still enjoyable. Many of the spots aren't huge, so keep that in mind if you have multiple tents, etc. It is a State Campground, so at times it can feel like there are a lot of rules, but take it with a grain of salt and you'll have an enjoyable experience.

Plenty of shade on hot days, playgrounds for the kids. Boating access, swimming, biking trails. Nice clean park.

We have a 30 ft camper and reserved a campsite 6 months in advance. There was not a picture of our site on the website (C10) but we were pleasantly surprised. Parking the trailer was a little tight but doable. We had plenty of room for our chairs, dog, and camp equipment. The lake was a short walk from our campsite. Bring water toys!

The bathrooms/showers just behind us. Plenty of shade and surprisingly peaceful for it being such a big campground.